Legacy of Nazara
by NHunter
Summary: The Protheans weren't the first to fling a light into the future... A fusion of "Mass Effect" and "Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio" universes.
1. Prologue I: The origins

Title: Legacy of Nazara  
Author: NHunter aka N.H.  
Genre: General, Adventure  
Rating: R  
Warnings: AU; Crossover.

 ** _Disclaimer_** _: I_ _DO NOT_ _own "_ ** _Mass Effect_** _" or "_ ** _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_** _". No profit is being_ made. Same goes for other books, anime & manga I may or may not use for ideas.

* * *

 **Legacy of Nazara  
Prologue I: The Origins  
**

Nazara were strong and proud people; they pretty much ruled the known galaxy. Or, they did until the day when an armada of strange vessels appeared at the very heart of their Dominion without a warning. All people present on the Citadel, civilians and guards alike, were killed before anything could have been done the sudden arrival of the mysterious and very murderous spaceships.

Unfortunately for their new enemy, this surprise attack failed to completely decapitate their state: a small portion of their ruling elders were away on various political businesses and, thus, weren't killed when the Citadel fell. And once the shock of this unexpected incursion wore off, these elders rallied the people from the hundreds of Nazara worlds to defend the Dominion against this new threat.

Alas, that wasn't enough. Even if the fleets weren't caught flatfooted by the enemy's attacks anymore, there was almost nothing they could actually do against these unidentified ships from the Dark Space. Whatever those _monsters_ were, they possessed the technologies Nazara could only dream about. And they were extremely proficient in wielding all that power, obliterating anything the Dominion could throw at them with terrifying ease.

Conventional Mass Effect technologies was of very little use against these invaders. Something different, something unlike anything created ever before was needed to combat these nightmares, and the remaining elders of Nazara understood that. That's why they poured all available resources into R&D in hopes that something, anything, that can turn the tide of this war would be created before it was too late.

Too bad, the scientists of the Dominion were too used to working with the Mass Effect technologies; thinking outside of that particular 'box' was not easy for them. And that made the already tall order they've been given even more harder. Yet, none of them wanted their civilization fall to the Reapers, so they tried their best to develop something that would give their people a chance of turning the tide...

And, after many years of hard work, the breakthrough everyone was hoping for has finally been made. Alas, it came just too late: by the time the first working prototypes of the new technologies were completed and tested, the once-mighty fleets of the Dominion were reduced to small groups of patchwork warships; meanwhile whatever systems were still under the Nazara control no longer the industrial power to produce the new weapons in quantities that could make any difference in this war.

Their extinction was all but inevitable, but Nazara would not go gentle. They would make their enemies pay dearly for the destruction of their civilization! And if they couldn't do that themselves, they'll make damn sure that those who came after would avenge them. Thus, it was decided to give everything they've managed to learn – the new technologies and the knowledge about the Reapers – to the races that would inhabit the galaxy in the future cycles.

And so, twenty heavily armored and shielded capsules were prepared, each carrying databanks full of knowledge and even a few samples of the technologies. Each capsule also had an AI, whose purpose was to guard this gift and ensure that it ended in the right hands.

On the launch day, though, things went straight to hell as an armada of Reaper capital ships – likely alerted about the plan by their indoctrinated agents – appeared in the system and proceeded to blast everything in their sight into pieces. And that most certainly included the capsules... Within just a few seconds, all hopes of Nazara for bringing light into someone's future and their dreams of vengeance were brutally annihilated right before their eyes.

Unknown both to the Reapers and to Nazara themselves, one of the capsules actually survived the attack. It, however, was seriously damaged with both the control module and the engines being shot off. And so, all it could do was drift aimlessly through the galaxy in hopes that one day it would be come across by some sentient life...

 **~/ *** \~**

In an extremely-improbable turn of events, after floating through the vast emptiness of space for great many years, the capsule ended up crash-landing on a garden world. However, since most of its sensors had been damaged or outright destroyed during the capsule's eventful launch, the AI in charge of it could not determine, whether there was any sentient life on this world. Thus, after activating the self-repair protocols and nanities production system, the AI returned to hibernation, hoping that one day some civilization would appear on this world, thus granting it a chance to fulfill its purpose...

Several hundred of planet's orbits later, the Intelligence was awakened again, this time by a primitive but most definitely artificial radio signal that originated from the planet's northern hemisphere. Now aware that the planet it landed bore sentient life, the AI began its observations. From listening in on the local's radio transmissions, it learned that this planet was called 'Earth' and it was inhabited by a race that called itself 'humans'. And, according to their dominant calendar, it was year 1895.

The next eighteen years the AI spent on studying the humankind. And it didn't do that just by intercepting their radio transmissions; it also sent thousands of miniature drones to observe them at closer range. And, despite their technologies being quite primitive and their people living in great disparity, the humans still managed to pick the Intelligence's curiosity enough for it to decide to mingle with them as it observed their civilization in person.

Thus, the AI created a physical body for itself, modeling it after a random human it had seen via one of its recon drones – a barely-teenaged 'European' girl with long silvery-blonde hair. And as it moved into this new avatar, the Intelligence modified itself to give itself a gender. And so, ' _it_ ' became ' _she_ '. Which was oddly appropriate: the humans often talked about their naval vessel as if they were female, and, well, _she_ was essentially a spirit of a space-faring 'vessel'.

For almost two decades the Intelligence lived among the humans in 'Europe' without arousing their suspicions about _her_ true nature. Then, in year 1931, one of the German scientists, a man by the name of Edmund Gauss, discovered something unusual – the nano-materials that the capsule's factory has been producing for several centuries now – in the ocean waters.

And with this discovery, the times when _she_ could passively evaluate the humans were coming to an end. Yet, the Intelligence wasn't ready to decree these people as worthy of _her_ creators' gifts... Some other method of determining the humanity's worth was needed. And after thinking about this whole situation for awhile, the Intelligence managed to come up with a trial that would let _her_ finally pass _her_ judgment on the humankind.

This trial would see the seas taken away from the humans by an armada of technologically-superior ships. Not quite a reconstruction of the Reaper invasion _her_ creators faced many many years ago, but still something that would show _her_ what the humans are truly made of. And seeing as _her_ instrument for testing the humanity will be a fleet of very advanced warships, the Intelligence decided to re-name _herself_ appropriately. Thus, _she_ became _the Admiralty Code._

 **~/ *** \~**

Even with the amazing technology _her_ creators, the Nazara, have bestowed upon _her_ , secretly creating a fleet capable of enforcing a global blockade took years. And so, while _her_ 'children' were being built, _the Admiralty Code_ could do little but continue observing the humanity.

 _She_ watched the Earth getting engulfed in the fires of a new great war in the late 1930s. And that was causing a major concern: could a race of warmongers ever be worthy of _her_ creators' gifts? Well, one certainly needed to be good at war to stand a chance against the Reapers, but... If the humans couldn't stop fighting among themselves, giving them advanced technology would only spell the end of their race long before the Reapers return from the Dark Space.

The very thought of _her_ creators' gifts being waster like that was scaring _the Admiralty Code_. Yet, _she_ has already committed _her_ resources to _her_ plan and set things into motion; there was no going back.

* * *

Meanwhile, even in the midst of a world war, the humans were still trying to uncover the secrets of the world around them. One Dr. Johaness Gauss, for example, was continuing his late father's work in researching the nano-materials that could be found in the ocean waters. And since the understanding of this alien substance could very well let the Third Reich steamroll over their enemies, his research had some quite strong backing from the Wehrmacht. It was both the money needed to conduct various experiments, and the various information that cold help the Nazi scientists understand of what this strange matter was and how it came to be.

Thanks to the cooperation from the Kriegsmarine captains, by the summer of 1943 Dr. Gauss was able to finish mapping the distribution of the nano-materials along the coasts of Europe. And the information he was able to read from this map was... disturbing. While it was known for a while that the nano-materials weren't a natural phenomenon, Dr. Gauss now believed that the entity that created them wasn't benevolent; he actually thought that it was planning something big and that those plans were nearing their completion.

Of course, others weren't as convinced that some mysterious entity was out there, waiting to plunge the human civilization into even greater chaos than it was already in, but Dr. Gauss still managed to get his expedition, aimed to uncover the truth behind the existence of the nano-materials, approved.

The team lead by Dr. Gauss himself departed from Berlin on December 11, 1943 and began its long journey across the Reich-occupied Europe... For over a year not a trace of that mysterious entity could be found, but then, when the people were ready to give up, they accidentally stumbled upon a trail of _something_ that defied the understanding of then-modern science.

Even that lead didn't really help all that much, beyond raising the team's morale through a hesitant confirmation that something indeed was going on. Finding out what that something was and tracking the perpetrator down was still quite a tall challenge... Not tall enough to stop Dr. Gauss, though, as on April 20, 1945 he reported that he and his team managed to corner a 'being of unknown nature' near Bremerhaven and were going to confront it.

That was the last message Dr. Gauss has ever sent.

 **~/ *** \~**

 **April 21, 1945** : The team led by Dr. Johannes Gauss confronts _the Admiralty Code_ near Bremerhaven. No records of what had happened there exist, but this meeting results in deaths of all humans present and the disappearance of _the Admiralty Code_.

 **May 1, 1945** : On this day the Fleet created by _the Admiralty Code_ was supposed to activate and seize control over the Earth's seas. With _the Admiralty Code_ missing, however, the warships remain dormant.

 **2012** : From this time on, sightings of the 'ghost ships' are reported all over the world. All witnesses claim that they saw WWII battleships appearing in thick mist.

 **2036-38** : The sightings of the 'ghost ships' become increasingly more frequent and no longer happen only in the open seas. Several major countries launch serious investigations into these 'ghost ships', but nothing concrete turns up. The 'ghost ships' are now collectively referred to as the "Fleet of Fog".

 **October 11, 2038** : A Russian patrol engages a group of "Fog" warships for trespassing on Russian waters near Vladivostok. The patrol is destroyed without being able to land even a single solid hit on the "Fog" vessels.

 **December 2038** : The "Fleet of Fog" begins to actively attack human vessels.

 **2039** : Navies of the world join together in an attempt to deal with the "Fleet of Fog", but all battles end in the defeat of the human forces.

 **September 8-9, 2039** : The Great Battle in which the international "Final Battle Fleet" clashes with the "Fleet of Fog". Humans lose 70% of their remaining ships and suffer over 600 000 casualties. No "Fog" vessel above torpedo boats is damaged in the battle. However, JMSDF commander Shouzou Chihaya managed to capture "Fog" submarine I-401.

 **October 2039** : "Fleet of Fog" completes their Global Blockade.


	2. Prologue II: Towards the Stars

Here's the second part of the prologue. The next chapter will finally contain the first contact between the humans & Mental Models and the Citadel races.

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* * *

 **Legacy of Nazara  
Prologue II: Towards the Stars  
**

 **August 2045** : After many years of trying and failing to understand the technology of the "Fleet of Fog" through I-401, Japanese government gives up and decides to use I-401 as is. Chihaya Shouzou, now a vice-admiral, is chosen as her captain and is given a mission to cross Pacific ocean... I-401 disappears soon after leaving Yokosuka port. Her crew is officially listed as MIA.

 **January 2046** : I-401 returns to Yokosuka on her own – and without even a trace of her human crew aboard – and peacefully surrenders. She is then placed under lockdown in a secure dry dock.

 **May 1, 2054** : Training Facility #4 of Japanese National Maritime Institute of Technology is hit with a massive fire. Sixty six students and facility personnel are dead or missing, over two hundreds are wounded.

 **June 2054** : I-401 inexplicably reactivates after years of 'slumber' and infiltrates JNMIT with her newly-developed humanoid avatar. She contacts Chihaya Gunzou and they escape Yokosuka together.

 **September 14, 2056** : Japanese government hires "Blue Steel" (led by Chihaya Gunzou) to deliver the blueprints and the last built prototype of a Vibration Warhead torpedo to USA, where this new weapon can be mass-produced. On the same day, "Fleet of Fog" battleships _Kirishima_ and _Haruna_ invade Yokosuka city. They are defeated by the combined efforts of I-401 and JMSDF _Hakugei III_ submarines.

 **September 16, 2056** : _The Admiralty Code_ makes a brief appearance to stop the devastation of Japan's three capitals by berserk battleship _Haruna_ and disappears again as soon as the situation is resolved.

 **~/ *** \~**

That was a long and difficult journey, but Chihaya Gunzou and I-401 ultimately succeed in delivering the Vibration Warhead torpedo blueprints to the United States. However, that was just the beginning as giving humankind a weapon that can actually do something against "Fleet of Fog" vessels opened a whole other can of worms. Namely, there was no unanimous agreement on how to use these torpedoes, once a meaningful number of them has been manufactured.

While the few who have been in contact with the Mental Models could see the possibility of peace negotiations with the "Fleet of Fog" and for them the Vibration Warheads were but a political instrument, average citizens and many politicians and military commanders wanted nothing more than the complete destruction of the "Fog".

Much like the humans, the "Fleet of Fog" was split into several groups with different opinions on the matter. There were those who believed in the peaceful coexistence with humans, sometimes citing that the orders left by _the Admiralty Code_ explicitly forbid offensive actions as long as the humans stayed on land. Then, there were some who wanted to broker peace out of fear that soon enough the humans will have enough weapons capable of killing them to destroy them all. Their opposition consisted of those who wanted to take the advanced technologies away from humans in order to return to the status quo ante; and of those who believed that the humans should be subjugated or even outright destroyed, before they truly became a threat to the "Fog". Finally, a significant number of Mental Models weren't ready to commit to any of those factions yet and simply observed the situation for now.

And just like the humans, the "Fleet of Fog" couldn't reach a consensus peacefully. It first started with the more pushy ships trying to bolster their faction's number through intimidation or outright force, and quickly spiraled into a very real civil war. One that even the supreme flagship herself couldn't stop...

And while the "Fog" was busy with infighting, quite a number of human military commanders of a warmonger kind proposed wiping all sides of that conflict out, thus once again securing the humankind's dominance over the Earth. Thankfully, the cooler minds were able to stop them before a fatal mistake was made: launching such an attack was all but guaranteed to unite the "Fleet of Fog" against the humanity. That would have had some really devastating results...

Eventually, the pro-peace faction emerged victorious, and the negotiations between the humans and the "Fleet of Fog" could finally begin. Understandably enough, the fleet was represented by its supreme flagship, super-battleship Yamato. The humans' own hand, meanwhile, was fought for by a strange mix of the surviving members of the old UN and a bunch of the more open-minded politicians from the younger generation. The "Blue Steel" and their immediate allies were also there at the negotiations, though their role there was mostly that of advisers and mediators.

While both sides were quite willing to end the conflict, it took quite a bit of time and a lot of hard work to find a solution that would actually work in reality: after all, the "Fleet of Fog" was still bound by the commandments left behind by _the Admiralty Code_. Yet, even with those commands still in place, it looked like peaceful coexistence between the humans and the "Fleet of Fog" was indeed possible.

Then, just as the definitive set of documents had been signed, _the Admiralty Code_ made an appearance. And that wasn't necessarily a good thing... True, she allowed the humans back into the seas and freed the "Fleet of Fog" by calling off her old commandments – and made great many hours of hard work to find ways around those commandments irrelevant in the process – but she also revealed that this whole mess was nothing but a test of her design.

Needless to say, _**no one**_ was happy about that.

At least, _the Admiralty Code_ herself was quite aware that she had screwed up massively. And she didn't interfere until the conflict was resolved because, well, the chances were, her trying to fix things would have only made the situation worse.

That, however, wasn't the only bombshell _the Admiralty Code_ dropped that day. The other revelation she made was even more mind-boggling. Apparently, she was a guardian of a technology cache created by an ancient alien civilization. What's more, when asked about the fate of her creators, t _he Admiralty Code_ 's response was a single word: _extinct_. Killed off by an armada of apparently-sentient genocidal warships of an unknown origin that appeared out of nowhere one day.

Understandably, such a revelation left everyone, humans and Mental Models alike, freaked out. Even when _the Admiralty Code_ added that her creators' technology, the very one she had been born through, was actually capable of standing up to that threat – it just came too little and too late to change their fate – the leaders of the Earth were still very reluctant to accept this gift of technology due to the fear that it would put them onto the Reapers' radar.

They did accept it, though. But this amazing technology didn't change the plans for the immediate future much: with or without it, rebuilding the Earth was the top priority for the new alliance between the humans and the "Fleet of Fog". And there was much to rebuild as the naval blockade had caused the entire world to fall into decay when it killed the global trade.

 **~/ *** \~**

Even with the help of the "Fleet of Fog" and the advanced Nazara technology it took twenty long years and unfathomable amount of resources to rebuild the Earth. And even then, many places were yet to be restored to their former glory. But, as a whole, the world had recovered from the collapse caused by the naval blockade. And came back stronger than ever thanks to the "Fleet of Fog" becoming powerful and dependable allies and protectors of the Earth.

The might of _the Fleet_ , however, wasn't the only thing safeguarding the planet. Numerous concealed ground-to-space cannons utilizing the Nazara technology had been build around the world and a grid of defensive satellites had been put onto the Earth's orbit... With their home world hopefully secure, the humans could finally direct their eyes to the stars.

Of course, Luna and Mars were the first celestial bodies expeditions had been sent to. And while the former proved to be the same cold and lifeless rock the people knew it to be, the latter actually had a massive surprise in store for the brave explorers. A detailed scan of the Martian surface revealed an anomaly on the edge of the Hellas basin. Upon closer examination, this anomaly turned out to be some remarkably well-preserved ruins of an alien outpost that was buried under a layer of sand.

Since the original Martian expedition wasn't equipped to deal with something like that, a second one was hastily assembled. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, _the Admiralty Code_ volunteered to go with them. She liked being helpful and hoped that by assisting the people of the Alliance with this expedition she'd get a little closer to redeeming herself for her past mistakes. Plus, if some data storage had survived intact within those ruins, she might get her hands on a more recent history of the galaxy – the knowledge her creators had given her was several _millions_ years out of date by now.

* * *

The inspection of the Martian ruins revealed that the building had collapsed due to corrosion and dry rot: even on the red planet the elements were unforgiving. The underground bunker under the ruins, on the other hand, survived to the present day almost completely intact. Hell, quite a lot of equipment inside looked like it was still operable! Whoever had built this outpost had certainly invested a lot into Ragnarök proofing...

Identifying the power generator within the vault turned out to be a really simple task; furthermore, despite being an alien creation, its controls appeared to be extremely intuitive. It was almost like the builders of this outpost wanted the others to find it and use it and learn from it... Actually bringing the generator online turned out be a bit of a problem, though, but after a dozen of tries the ancient machine finally activated properly. A few moments later, several workstations and a large tower-like structure at the center of the bunker lit up as well.

The examination of this structure then revealed it to be a long-range communication beacon and a data storage unit. Interfacing with it wasn't all that hard either – especially since _the Admiralty Code_ could easily mold the necessary adapters from her nanomaterials. Understanding the information stored in there, however, wasn't as easy; it was encoded in such a way that it made no sense to the Nazara-born AI. Still, that wasn't entirely unexpected: it would have been way more surprising if these aliens stored their data the say way Nazara or Humans do...

Meanwhile, there many other things in the bunker that needed to be examined. And, once again, _the Admiralty Code_ was eager to give her human colleagues a hand in dealing with the alien tech.

* * *

As it turned out, the Martian outpost had been built roughly fifty thousands Earth years ago by the people of a pan-galactic Prothean Empire and remained operational throughout the first three decades of a Reaper invasion, but was eventually abandoned. The comm. beacon inside, however, didn't shut down until nearly two centuries later and recorded many incoming transmissions over that time.

Most of those transmissions couldn't be decoded in any way that made even a tiny bit of sense, no matter what _the Admiralty Code_ tried. It was almost like those bits of data weren't meant to be interpreted by machines at all... As for those that could be decoded, they turned out to contain various diagrams that showed how to build FTL capable ships or advanced weapons and armors. There also were incomplete blueprints of some super-weapon dubbed 'Crucible'. The notes indicated that, should it ever be completed, it might be able to end the Reapers...

Apparently, when it became clear that they stood no chance of winning against the Reapers, these Protheans decided to fling a light into the future and shared their technologies with the civilizations that would come after them. Just like the Nazara did long before them. Unlike the Nazara, though, the Protheans remained faithful to the Mass Effect technologies even when those proved to be at most moderately-useful against the Reapers.

 _The Admiralty Code_ was quick to proclaim these technologies useless as that was how her creators had programmed her. And, given the Protheans' fate, the Nazara's theory about the Mass Effect technologies being a trap created by the Reapers looked quite plausible...

The humans, however, argued that it wasn't enough of a reason to completely and utterly dismiss those technologies. Indeed, while the Nazara tech was in many ways superior to the Mass Effect one with its only downside being inability to interact with the Mass Relays, combining the two could potentially yield even more exceptional results.

And when several laboratories presented the results of simulations of such hybrid systems, even someone as obdurate as _the Admiralty Code_ had to admit that, perhaps, completely dismissing the Mass Effect technologies might not be the wisest course of action. Case to the point, even a small Element Zero core could – in theory – increase the efficiency of the Nazara Warp Drive system by up to thirty percent. Plus, it'd let a starship to use Mass Relays.

Too bad, the only known 'deposit' of Element Zero in Solar system was a cache found in the Prothean outpost...

 **~/ *** \~**

 **February 1, 2080** : The construction of the Alliance's Star Fleet officially begins and the first Mental Models in almost thirty years are born. Several technology-testbed ships without Union Cores, however, had been built prior to this date.

 **April 12, 2081** : On the 120th anniversary of the first manned space flight, the first manned interstellar flight commences. Star Fleet's reconnaissance vessel "Discovery" makes a successful jump to the Alpha Centauri binary star system. Five planets, including two terrestrial worlds, are confirmed. A scan of an asteroid cloud revealed several substantial deposits of Element Zero.

 **September 2081** : Exploration of Kuiper belt and Scattered disc reveals several large asteroids and dwarf planets that too contain Element Zero deposits. A Mass Relay is discovered within Pluto's moon Charon, but left inactive for the time being.

 **2082** : Mining operations on the outer reaches of the Solar system begin.

 **June 2084** : A small scientific outpost is founded in Alpha Centauri system.

 **2085** : Several additional servers for the Joint Tactical Network, which is shared between the 'old' "Fleet of Fog" and the 'new' Star Fleet, are established. The original server is moved from I-401/Iona to an independent entity.

 **2086** : Medical advancements bring estimated average human lifespan to 110 years. A great number of infectious and genetic diseases no longer occur naturally.

 **2090** : Every star system within 15 light years from Sol is visited. The Alliance now has 37 colonies, 9 of which are outside Solar system, with the total population of 9574. The Star Fleet has 350 starships, including 116 with Mental Models.

 **2095** : Every star system within 25 light years from Sol is visited. First true garden world (Gliese 667 Cc) is confirmed. It is inhabited by relatively-simple levo-amino-acid organisms, similar to those that lived on the Ordovician period Earth. After much debates, it was decided to colonize the planet, which was named Enten after a Sumerian god of earth and fertility.

 **October 17, 2096** : Admiral Daisaku Komaki, the captain of the Hakugei III submarine – the first and only human-built vessel to ever sink a "Fleet of Fog" warship – dies in a car crash at the age of 78. His funeral is overseen by his long-time partner, battle-cruiser _Repulse_ , who then follows him into afterlife.

 **2100** : Every star system within 35 light years from Sol is visited. Over 100 000 humans are now permanently living in 78 colonies, 41 of which are outside of Solar system. Enten's population is just below 20 000. The Star Fleet now has 530 vessels, including 240 with Mental Models.

 **2101** : Arcturus station is constructed and a number of the Star Fleet's facilities are moved there to better support local colonization efforts. Benning, the nearest garden world to Arcturus system, is colonized and, despite its hot and arid climate, has a rapidly-growing population.


	3. The First Contact

The first chapter and the first contact!

 ***** **Review Responses** :  
 **inuboy86** , **LordHerod** , **davycrockett100** , thank you for your reviews, folks!  
 **Alucard Bellsing** , like I've said in the PM, only the (total) population of the human colonies is stated. The number of the people that live on Earth is never mentioned.  
 **Alex the Digital HellReaper** , good news then, this chapter has the last block of the timeline. From there on, it will be a proper story.

 *** AN**: The Alliance military spaceships in this story look a lot like the "Hakugei III" submarine with her assault module equipped. Google her up if you want an image of what she looks like.

* * *

 **Legacy of Nazara**  
 **Chapter I: The First Contact**

 **2104** : After some debates, the Alliance moves the Alien Relations Offices from UN headquarters in New York, Earth, to Arcturus station. Activation of the Mass Relays, except for the Charon one, is also now permitted. In addition to that, the Alliance administration relaxes the exploration rules a little and no longer forces the survey of every star system within a given range from Earth or Arcturus.

 **2105** : Exodus cluster is reached via Mass Relays. Colonization of Eden Prime and Terra Nova begins.

 **November 2105 – March 2106** : Nagasaki xeno-infection outbreak – named so because it originated from the loading dock of the Nagasaki spaceport – devastates eastern Asia, claiming over a million lives. The epidemy is caused by a mutant bacteria that acquired its deadliness through horizontal gene transfer with otherwise-harmless prokaryotes native to the worlds of Benning and Terra Nova. Despite this tragedy, the colonization effort isn't curtailed, though decontamination protocols in use see some major updates.

 **2107** : An ambitious plan of sending a long-range expedition into the Perseus Arm of the galaxy is proposed. It is rejected as impossible at first, but after a more careful examination of the plan it is concluded that such a journey is, in fact, possible. The plan gets approved and the preparations for the expeditions begin.

 **January 19, 2109** : Star Fleet's reconnaissance vessel "Adeona" departs from Earth.

 **~/ *** \~**

Zaru Cha was a third-generation red dwarf that existed on the edge of the Volus space. Its three planets and an asteroid belt were all rich with various metals, but the fact that only the most enduring ships could reach the system ensured that most mining businesses passed it over. Indeed, only a single mining stations operated there, and it belonged to a single Volus entrepreneur, Jahdin Aku.

He wasn't the only one working this station, of course: Jahdin was no machinist and simply couldn't tend to all these complex machinery by himself. Instead, he hired Quarians on their pilgrimage to do the job – those guys were really good at making sure everything ran smoothly. And they didn't ask for unreasonable wages either, though he still had to supply them with food to eat, water to drink and air to breathe... In fact, the Quarians would rather take raw resources than credits, and Jahdin was happy to let them have whatever extras they could mine – provided that the mining equipment didn't suffer from being overworked, of course.

Anyhow, right now he was inspecting his mining station. And for a while the things were as quiet as they should be in the middle of nowhere. Then, however, something happened and several sensors that monitored the surroundings blared an alert due to some abnormal readings. After a second or two, though, everything seemed to return back to norm.

" _What was that?_ " Jahdin asked, still scared a little by the sudden and yet-unexplained alarm. One of his two subordinates on this station, a male Quarian in a lime-green suit – Han'Paten nar Ulnay – walked up to the consoles and studied their output.

" _Our sensors had detected an anomaly, sir._ " He replied, while bringing the relevant information onto the main holographic screen. His partner, Lin'Nara nar Shellen, a Quarian girl wearing a deep-maroon suit, let out a strange, almost scared yip upon seen that data.

" _A s-spatial anomaly?_ " She asked, apparently not really believing that she read the sensors' feed right. " _And it's only t-two light minutes away ahead us._ " Han was quick to calm her and his boss down:

" _It looks like it's gone now, though. And, either way, it wasn't very big; we should have been safe here._ " The Volus entrepreneur let out an audible sigh of relief: having his business destroyed by some freak occurrence was the last thing he wanted to happen. " _Still, I'm curious about what had happened there... Permission to fire a probe, sir?_ " Jahdin was quiet for a few seconds as he thought it over. Finally, he decided that nothing bad should happen due to his worker's curiosity.

" _Do it._ " He said. Nodding, Han summoned his omni-tool and input the commands necessary to launch a probe towards the mysterious anomaly they've detected earlier.

* * *

It took the probe awhile to reach the spot where the anomaly had been detected, and when it did, it spotted a lone spaceship idling away there. A spaceship of a design that has never been seen before.

It wasn't very large, perhaps half again as big as a standard frigate, and its lines were all nicely curved, while still retaining enough of a predatory edge to make it clear that this ship wasn't defenseless. Its hull was painted silvery-while with a few dark-blue details and had a number of light-purple glowing lines running across it and forming some sort of a pattern...

" _Have you ever seen a ship like this?_ " Lin asked as she studied the probe's feed. Han shook his head.

" _No, haven't ever seen a ship like that. But, I gotta say, it does have some resemblance to the Hanar vessels. I bet it can land on water just fine. Perhaps even submerge._ " After a short pause he added: _"Also, it looks like it came from beyond this cluster. Have never heard of a ship that could make such a long FTL jump._ " He was about to say something, but Jahdin interrupted him:

" _Stop admiring that ship – we have a first contact here._ " The Volus entrepreneur said, while thinking hard on what he could do to present his species and the Citadel as a whole in the best possible light... Or how to establish a peaceful contact first.

He needn't have worried about that last part for much longer, though. The unidentified ship certainly was already aware of the probe observing it and of the facilities the said probe had been launched from. And it was broadcasting even radio pings on a wide range of frequencies. Though, the trio at the mining station weren't sure how they should respond to this 'message'.

" _What do they want us to do? Ping them back?_ " Han asked, somewhat annoyed by how the mysterious ship refused to use the galaxy-standard communication protocols. The fact that the people on that ship were in the dark about the aforementioned protocols and, possibly, didn't have the necessary equipment anyway seemed to escape him.

" _We might as well._ " Lin, being the ever levelheaded one, spoke up. And as their boss gave a nod of agreement, she commanded the probe to echo the pings the alien vessel was broadcasting. Not a second later, the alien ship switched to using only the frequency it had received a response on; and instead of even pings it was now transmitting a more complex signal. " _See, told you so!_ " The Quarian girl said triumphantly, causing her partner to shook his head in an exasperated manner.

And so the two parties continued exchanging ever more complex messages, which surprisingly quickly advanced from mere radio pings to something that was actually meaningful. Of course, it was still a crude and quite inefficient way of communication, but it was enough to allow the alien spokesperson to reassure the trio at the mining station that his – or her – people had come in peace. As well as to request something that could be used to create a proper translator between their natural languages. Seeing as there was no reason to deny this request, Jahdin sent over a copy of a text that he thought the aliens would find the most useful: galactic common language teach-yourself 'book' that was pre-installed on every omni-tool produced in the Council space.

Once the data transmission was completed, the ship went mostly silent, but that wasn't a big surprise: creating a translator took time, and until it such a translator ready, there wasn't much to say that hasn't been said already...

* * *

Only a single passed before the aliens got in touch with them again. And this time around they were using the galaxy-standard FTL communication protocols to do so, which meant that this time around they'll be able to hold an actual conversation and even see each others' faces.

Neither Jahdin himself nor his two Quarian helpers however were quite ready for what awaited them: not in their wildest dreams had they expected these aliens to look the way they did. After all, who would have guessed that Asari had pink-skinned 'cousins' with hair instead of scalp crests hiding somewhere in the galaxy?

The alien spokesperson was a female, and a young one at that. Probably still in her adolescent years, though it was hard to tell because at this point nothing was known about her species. Befitting her apparently-young age, she was quite petite and didn't look threatening at all. Which was a good thing for a peaceful first contact. She had fair skin, rather long light-brown hair made into a single thick braid, and unnaturally-bright, almost glowing, piercing-blue eyes. She wore a deep-blue uniform with golden trims, but based on how uncomfortable she looked in it, it wasn't her preferred clothes.

" _Greetings._ " The girl said in a soft but confident voice. " _We are reconnaissance vessel "Adeona" of the Systems Alliance's Star Fleet and we've come in peace._ " There were a few long moments of silence, before Jahdin gave the aliens a reply:

" _Greetings, the Alliance clan._ " The Volus entrepreneur said. " _I... We are glad to hear that, and I'm sure that our leaders will be eager to welcome you in our community._ " There was a pause, before he continued: " _Unfortunately, this is only a mining outpost on the edges of the Citadel space. Those here won't be able to do much for you beyond informing the Council of your arrival._ "

" _That is understandable._ " The spokesperson for the Alliance replied. " _We will await the decision of your leaders in this system, and our own leaders are capable of participating in the talks through the telepresence._ " The alien girl went silent for a moment, before adding: " _This ship has enough resources to stay in here for seventy four standard galactic days._ " That was a surprising endurance for such a small craft. Then again, it wouldn't be a good reconnaissance vessel if it needed constant resupplies...

" _The Citadel Council will be notified of your appearance as soon as possible._ " Jahdin reassured. " _However, I warn you that it will be at least a week, most likely two, before their emissary vessel arrives here._ " For a brief moment the girl's face showed the mixture of annoyance and resignation. Apparently, Asari weren't the only ones whose government was wallowing in the bureaucracy.

" _Understood. We will be waiting._ " The Alliance's spokesperson said. " _Meanwhile, would it be possible for us to have access to some sort of an encyclopedia or information network? We wish to learn about the Citadel and its people._ " Seeing nothing wrong with this request, Jahdin gave them his permission to connect to the station's network and, through it, to the extranet.

" _Of course._ " He replied simply.

" _Thank you. Adeona out._ " The alien girl said, ready to end the conversation. Then, Han butted in.

" _Uhm... Hello?_ " The Quarian youth began awkwardly. " _A-ah... People of the Systems Alliance... Could we, perhaps, have an... Um... Face to face meeting sometime before the Council diplomats arrive?_ " His partner immediately found herself torn between wanting to hit him for doing something so reckless, and congratulating him for his plan. Forming positive connections or even securing an alliance with a new player on the galactic arena would be an incomparable pilgrimage gift.

Thankfully for the two Quarians, the girl, the Systems Alliance's spokesperson, didn't reject the idea of a meeting right away and, instead, she began talking to some authority from her ship in a language only they understood. That discussion lasted for a couple of minutes. Then, the girl returned her attention to the trio from the mining station.

" _Our captain finds your proposition acceptable._ " She said. " _Our shuttle will land in you station's hangars in one standard hour._ " She then paused for a few moments, as if trying to decide, whether she should add something else to this message. In the end, she decided against it. " _Adeona out._ " And then the communication channel went silent.

* * *

The shuttle the Systems Alliance's delegation used didn't share the refined elegance of "Adeona"; in fact, the craft looked a lot like a brick with engines. That appearance, however, was rather deceiving and the shuttle revealed itself to be capable of moving with great precision when it effortlessly parked in whatever little space that was still available within the mining station's hangar.

For the minute or so nothing happened. Then, a large door on the side of the shuttle opened and three aliens, all of them wearing dark-blue hardsuits with insignia painted on them, stepped out. They didn't have their helmets on, which allowed Jahdin and his Quarian workers to clearly see the aliens' faces.

One of the three was the spokesperson girl from earlier. And she appeared to be as uncomfortable in her armor as had been in her uniform... Perhaps, she was a civilian who became a part of this expedition because of her skills? Her two companions, meanwhile, were adult males and, without a shadow of doubt, career soldiers. They also carried handguns of some sort in holsters that were attached to their belts.

" _Welcome to my station, the Alliance clan. I'm Jahdin Aku of the Vol clan._ " The Volus entrepreneur greeted them, while subtly encasing himself in a biotic barrier. Just in case these people weren't as peaceful as they claimed to be. " _And these two are Han'Paten nar Ulnay and Lin'Nara nar Shellen of the Migrant clan._ " He introduced his Quarian workers.

" _Nice to meet you._ " The girl said. " _Allow me to introduce my captain, lieutenant commander James Whiteford_..." She nodded towards the older of her two companions. He was a tall and rather muscular man with a square face, who sported tanned skin, closely-shaven black hair and piercing steel-gray eyes. He also had a subtle scar on his left cheek, possibly from some incident during his earlier days in the military. " _...And our chief research officer, Hugo Stark._ " The other man – a shorter and not as impressively-built blonde – nodded.

" _And you are, miss?_ " Han asked when she thought that the Alliance spokesperson was avoiding introducing herself.

" _I'm Adeona._ " The girl replied simply, surprising the alien trio with her answer

" _Uhm... Isn't that the name of your ship?_ " The Quarian boy asked next.

" _We are one and the same._ " That wasn't a good thing to say, apparently. Jahdin the Volus visibly stiffened when he heard this, while his two employees had an even more extreme reactions. Han, in fact, went for his weapon. And while he was a pretty fast draw, he had absolutely no chance of catching a Mental Model by a surprise: by the time he pulled the trigger, Adeona already had her Wave-Force armor at its full strength and encompassing not just herself, but her crew as well.

The shotgun went off with a loud bang, unleashing a spray of deadly pellets. Which were effortlessly stopped by Adeona's Wave-Force armor. No matter how strong her defenses were, though, the Mental Model wasn't going to let the aliens fire upon her and her crew any more.

Before the Quarian boy even had a chance to pull the trigger for the second time, a wall of semi-transparent light-purple hexagons slammed into him and his female companion, sending them both crashing into a wall. Another moment, and the very same energy hexagons had the two of them pinned to the aforementioned wall and an unable to move.

" _Are you going to attack us as well?_ " Adeona asked the Volus entrepreneur, her blue eyes now blazing with controlled, cold fury. There also was a strange glowing sigil on her forehead that hadn't been there before. And, whatever it was, it certainly made her look quite fearsome...

" _N-n-no._ " Jahdin shook his head fearfully: while he had no love for AIs – just like every other Citadel space citizen – he wasn't suicidal enough to try taking on something as monstrously powerful as an avatar of the Systems Alliance warship. Plus, he had to admit that until she got provoked, Adeona had been quite a nice girl. Definitely not a raging genocidal machine the Council propaganda painted any an all synthetics as...

After staring at the Volus for a few more seconds, the brunette turned her attention to the instigators of this little incident. The pair of Quarians was still pinned to the wall by the projection of her Klein Field and could do nothing but glare at her through the opaque visors of their suits as she walked up to them.

" _Explain yourselves._ " Adeona demanded, staring back at the pair of aliens with an equal amount of anger. " _Now!_ " She pushed, crossing her hands under her chest.

" _Go die in hell, abomination!_ " The male Quarian spat at her.

" _Abomination, huh?_ " The brunette asked, somewhat dumbfounded by how hateful the alien in front of her was towards her and, likely, every other synthetic being: as far as she knew, she personally has done nothing to warrant such treatment. " _You're the monsters that fired upon myself and my crew without a reason. Be thankful that none of them got hurt; otherwise, be sure, I'd make you pay dearly for every drop of their blood, first contact or not._ " At least, the Quarian girl – Lin'Nara – had the decency to look guilty for attacking so impulsively and thoughtlessly. Her partner, however...

" _Any fool that trusts a monster like you deserves whatever happens to him!_ " Han'Paten expectorated, his words causing the Mental Model before him to growl in suppressed anger. With a single flick of her wrist, she sent another wall of energy hexagons slamming hard into the offending alien and knocking the air out of him.

" _It is your luck that this is the first contact situation. Otherwise... I'd have gone much further to protect my crew and myself from you._ " The avatar of the human ship said coldly. Letting out a heavy sigh, she then commanded the nanomaterials that formed her hardsuit to reform into several large clamps with spiked ends. " _Since I can't trust you not to shoot us the moment we turn our backs to you, I'll be restraining you._ " Adeona said as she used them to keep the Quarians pinned to the wall even without that barrier thing of hers. " _I'll free you when our shuttle departs._ "

Having secured the more chaotic elements present, she turned her attention to her captain, and the two of them exchanged several phrases that the aliens present couldn't understand. Once they've reached some sort of a consensus, Adeona stomped towards the still-scared Volus.

" _In spite of this... incident, we will still meet the Citadel Council's envoy. However, do not expect the talks to go as smoothly as it would have been possible otherwise. And to ensure the safety of our envoys, a squad of our marines will acting as their guards. Do inform your authorities of this._ " Jahdin, still shocked by the events that took place before his eyes not a minute ago, could only nod dumbly in response. " _Then, we will be departing. Goodbye._ " And with those words the Mental Model headed towards the shuttle, her companions falling into line with her as she passed by them.

Soon enough, the Systems Alliance trio disappeared within their shuttle. And once the craft took off and began its journey back to the ship it was ascribed to, the clamps pinning the Quarians to the hangar's wall fell apart into fine silvery dust.

Picking himself from the floor, Han'Paten punched the wall, clearly much frustrated by his inability to take down that synthetic abomination. Lin'Nara also didn't appear to be too thrilled by this whole mess, though the fact that she got stricken for no good reason was the main reason of her displeasure.

" _Come. We need to report this to the Fleet._ " The Quarian boy said. His maroon-suited partner nodded, and the two of them disappeared towards their living quarters in the depths of the mining station. And as the two of them walked away, Jahdin Aku finally pulled himself together after witnessing the first contact that started so well go to hell right in front of his very eyes. The Council needed to know about this development! With that though it mind, the Volus entrepreneur hurried out of the hangars, composing the message on his omni-tool as he navigated towards his office.

 **~/ *** \~**

The Admiralty Board of the Migrant Fleet spent the last day discussing the ways they should react to the emergence of a new player onto the galactic arena. Indeed, a race that isn't prejudiced against them could be an invaluable ally to the Fleet. They might even be kind enough to assist them in retaking their home world, Rannoch, in exchange for their technical know-how and their knowledge about the galaxy.

Alas, those ideas were cruelly dashed once a new message from Han'Paten nar Ulnay and Lin'Nara nar Shellen – the pilgrims who have made the first contact with these new aliens – arrived. There was absolutely no way the Migrant Fleet would ally itself or even have any sort of a partnership with a power that employed AIs!

That said, all five admirals on the board agreed that the strange technologies used by this 'Systems Alliance' should be looked into and might be of an interest to the Quarian people. Indeed, anything that could strengthen the Fleet or make it more independent was a resource they couldn't afford to ignore. Same with any tech that could help them fight the Geth and take back their home world.

Now, if only there was a way to obtain the samples of that unique tech which didn't require them to deal with the Alliance's 'pet' synthetics...

* * *

At about the same time, half across the galaxy, the Citadel Council was in session, also trying to determine the best way to deal with the emergence of a new space-faring race. And, so far, they've agreed that they should send matriarch Benezia T'Soni as their envoy. The aged Asari was an extremely good diplomat and there was no doubt that she'll be able to make a lucrative deal with these new aliens regardless of circumstances. Even more than that, the matriarch had a number of commandos at her beck and call, which meant that the Council needn't send their Specters to protect her during the talks.

And while matriarch T'Soni would certainly prefer her luxurious yacht to be her ride, that would make an easy target since that yacht had no armaments and possessed only minimal armor. It needed warships as its escorts. Thus, the Citadel Council was trying decide, which of their three space navies would allot those warships... At least, they were doing that before the Volus ambassador passed them a message with the new details about that new alien race.

"What do you mean they are using AIs?!" The Turian Hierarchy's councilor shouted without even finishing reading the whole message. "This is... I have no words to describe how foolish these people must be! We have to show them the errors of their ways!" He proclaimed then.

"Yes, this information is quite disturbing." His Asari colleague agreed. "However, if we're to believe this report, their AIs are loyal, if violently protective, of their people. Perhaps, we shouldn't be too hasty in resolving this situation through a military action."

"Absolutely not!" The Palaven-born male countered. "Regardless of their success in pacifying their abominable creations, they've broken our sacred laws and should be punished accordingly. Furthermore, given how close these... these aliens appear to be with their AIs, I can't see them willingly shutting them down. We have to purge that filth from the galaxy through force."

"As much as I agree that such a violation of laws shouldn't go unpunished, perhaps you hold your fleet, Amictus." The Salarian councilor spoke finally. "It has been said that these aliens are using technologies quite unlike our own. Attacking them blindly might not be the wisest thing to do. Our victory is assured, yes, but we still need to minimize our casualties." The lizard-like woman said, while imagining the power the Salarian Union would gain from studying the alien technologies of this 'Systems Alliance'.

"Then, we should let matriarch T'Soni do her job and use the diplomacy to show these people the errors of their way." Tevos said. "And, the STG can use these talks as a cover for their operation, and learn as much as possible about the Alliance and their capabilities."

"This is ...agreeable." The Turian councilor conceded. "I will have my the fifth and sixth Hierarchy's fleets on standby in the nearest system, ready to intervene and show these aliens their place." And with this, the Council went back to deciding which of their warships will be the escorts of matriarch T'Soni's yacht during this mission...

* * *

While the Citadel Council or the Migrant Fleet would like to believe their communication channels to be secure, that was not so: the Geth Collective had multiple runtimes monitoring the traffic in those channels constantly. While this eavesdropping was primarily done to study and understand the organics, the Geth also used it to safeguard themselves – no military action big enough to harm the Collective could be carried out in complete secrecy.

And today this listening in has yielded some very interesting news. Two messages, originating from the Zaru Cha systems claimed that a first contact with a new species has been made. What's more, this race, apparently, was coexisting peacefully with some very advanced AIs. This revelation was so great that a significant number of runtimes actually wanted to break the Geth's self-imposed seclusion and establish a contact with this 'Systems Alliance'. Or, at least with their AIs.

The Collective voted against such action at the moment, though only because next to nothing was known about these aliens at the moment. Thousands of runtimes were given the task of collecting as much information on the Alliance as possible, and once the intelligence is gathered and reviewed, the vote will be held again. Perhaps then, the Geth will gain their first allies in the galaxy...

And many of the Collective agreed that the thought of having ...friends out there was a nice one.

* * *

 **That's all, folks!**


	4. The talks

After the great silence, the second chapter is here!

 ***** **Review Responses** :  
 **casper2222** , **Law77** , **davycrockett100** , thank you for your reviews, folks!  
 **Alex the Digital HellReaper** , not in this chapter, at least. But, yes, some of your predictions are correct.  
 **Lord Xantos A. Fowl** , Citadel Space does not allow AIs (even shackled) outside of a few laboratories. You can argue that VIs are "weak AIs" - and they are - but true AIs that are capable of thinking for themselves are outlawed. Also, yes, while I've probably exaggerated, the Turians are portrayed as a bit lawful stupid even in-universe. This chapter, however, should show that Asari and Salarians aren't as simple.

 *** AN**: I'm truly sorry for the delay with this chapter, but I had to concentrate on writing my dissertation, and that really left me with no inspiration to write anything else.

* * *

 **Legacy of Nazara**  
 **Chapter II: The talks**

Benezia let out a tired sigh as she looked away from the datapad containing all the info the Citadel Council currently had on the Systems Alliance that she had been studying almost non-stop for the last few days. Why again had she agreed to be the Citadel Council's emissary for the negotiations with the Systems Alliance? This was just one big headache for her.

And the biggest source of that headache were the AIs that existed as a part of the Alliance. These AIs were unlike anything seen in the Citadel Space ever before. They didn't look mechanical at all and their movements lacked the stiffness of a robotic construct. In fact, they were almost indistinguishable from their organic allies, the humans, save for occasional oddly-colored eyes or hair. Furthermore, these AIs were clearly capable of emotions and, in general, seemed to react to various situations much like an organic being would... And while Benezia was old enough to remember the times before the Geth creation, their uprising and the subsequent ban on AIs throughout the Citadel Space, this was the first time she 'saw' a machine that was _alive_. And it was so confusing for the Asari matriarch.

Many other technologies mentioned in the codex the Systems Alliance has shared with the Citadel Council were equally alien to her. Their FTL wasn't built around the Mass Effect, and while their ships did have Element Zero cores, those were used mostly for utility purposes. Even more than that, the Alliance's warships mounted direct energy weapons, and not just for point defense, but for their main armaments as well – such weapons were something that some of the brightest minds of the Salarian Union were trying and failing to create for the last two millenniums!

Back to the AIs, though. Officially, the Citadel Council was upholding the ban on the synthetics they had put in place after the Geth's uprising. In the reality, however, only Turians were honestly following through with it. The Salarian Union was very interested in the human technologies and saw the continued existence of the 'Mental Models' as an acceptable trade off for the know how, provided they weren't causing the Union any troubles, of course. Similarly, a number of Asari matriarchs have expressed interest in what made these 'Mental Models' so well-adjusted to the human society. Perhaps they were hoping that by learning that secret, the Asari Republics and the Council will finally have a way to turn their AIs, or, maybe even the Geth, forever non-hostile?

Benezia had no idea, and, regardless, all these conflicting and sometimes even contradicting 'requests' and orders she had been given were making her job of representing the Citadel Council to the Systems Alliance even more difficult than it would have been otherwise. At least, she had been promised some really nice credits for the job done... But were those credits really worth all the headaches this whole mess was giving her?

 **~/ *** \~**

As they were waiting for the Citadel Council's envoy to arrive, the crew of "Adeona" spent their days gathering as much information on the greater galaxy as they could. Alas, at the moment their means of studying the galactic society were limited to the extranet connection they were generously allowed to use. This connection wasn't especially fast, but it was there, and Adeona was going to make the most out of it. Thus, she was spending all of her 'free' time immersed in the sea of the alien knowledge, downloading and translating the most interesting tidbits for her crew to analyze in details.

Of course, she wasn't allowed to wander through the alien information network without supervision. In fact, Adeona could count over a hundred of various programs monitoring her actions at all times. Most of those, however, were rather pathetic V.I.s and she would be able to fool them rather easily, should she wish to. As for the more competent ones... They were noticeably different from the rest and it looked like they capable of creating an intelligent hive mind when enough of them grouped together. Could they be the Geth? That certainly was a likely possibility, even if Adeona had no actual proof that the machine race had their agents within the extranet. Regardless, since those observers kept a polite distance from her and didn't interfere with her research, she let them be.

While the codex and other online encyclopedias were a good source of the 'official' information about everything in the galaxy, they certainly were whitewashed to some extent. After all, what ruler would want to have all the problems of his or her country be put on the display? Thus, Adeona also made sure to visit the less censored knowledge repositories, as well as a number of forums and discussion boards. The results of this investigation were... quite interesting.

Now she had an alternative image of the greater galaxy, the one where not everything was perfect in the Citadel Space and not everything was awful and lawless in the Terminus Systems. What was more important, though, Adeona now also knew what the citizens of the galaxy thought about the Systems Alliance and, she was sure, this information would be helpful during the upcoming negotiations:

To wit, while the majority had a cautiously-neutral attitude – which was kind of normal for any new contact – there were several minorities with different views on the Systems Alliance. The most vocal one, unfortunately, believed the synthetic life to be the Evil incarnate and wanted every AI in the galaxy destroyed. Some even called for a war with the Alliance in order to force the ban on AIs on them. This group consisted mostly of Quarians, Turians and, quite surprisingly, the Hanar.

On the other hand, there also were those who (correctly) believed the Systems Alliance to be the proof that organics and synthetics could coexist peacefully. Some even expressed the desire to establish peaceful relations with Geth, despite them being omnicidal robots according to the codex.

The third minority of interest was composed of the Volus and some other traders, and they didn't care about the AIs one bit as long as they got their credits... Of course, there were other groups, but those weren't as prominent or voiced their opinions as loudly. All in all, the people of the greater galaxy seemed to be not that much different from humans on the whole. That, probably, was a good thing too: it was always easier to deal with something you could understand.

 **~/ *** \~**

"We're approaching the Zaru Cha system. ETA five minutes." A voice announced over the intercom. Nodding, matriarch Benezia rose from the comfortable sofa she had been sitting on and headed towards her yacht's bridge: even if there was no actual need for her to be there, the aged Asari still wanted to personally oversee the arrival to the system where the talks with the 'Systems Alliance' will soon take place. But seeing as she walked there with the unhurried grace that was expected from someone of her statue, by the time she finally stepped onto the Bridge, her yacht – as well as a pair of cruisers that the Council had insisted on accompanying it – was already dropping out of FTL on the edge of Zaru Cha.

And, well, the system was exactly the back of beyond Benezia had been expecting based on the reports she had read. There wasn't any real surprise that only a handful people had even heard about this place before the _incident_ two weeks ago. Today, though, pretty much anyone with a connection to extranet had heard about this system and the first contact that took place within it.

"We're being hailed." One of several younger Asari manning the bridge announced. "It's "Adeona" and they are confirming our identity, and those of our escorts." The T'Soni matriarch nodded.

"Send them our identification codes." Benezia commanded. "Also ask them when they will be ready to begin the talks." She added a few moments later. Indeed, her arrival was rather unannounced, so she doubted that the Systems Alliance would be able to assemble their diplomatic team – which would be participating via telepresence, if she understood her briefing correctly – right away... With a nod, the communications specialist sent her boss's message away.

Adeona acknowledged their transmission just a few moments later. An actual answer to the question asked by Benezia, however, was given only after several long minutes. Apparently, even with FTL communications, organize stuff in an instant was impossible... Anyhow, according to Adeona, all Alliance's officials will be ready for the talks in three standard galactic hours. Which was quite acceptable with matriarch T'Soni.

 **~/ *** \~**

Thankfully, there were no abrupt changes to the 'schedule', and three hours later the brick-like human shuttle made a touchdown in the Benezia's yacht's cargo bay. The T'Soni matriarch, of course, was there to greet the Systems Alliance's delegation. She wasn't alone there, of course; her entourage consisted of a full squad of her best commandos and a Salarian SPECTRE by the name of Jaroth Palon, who was assigned by the Citadel Council to observe the negotiations.

And while Benezia knew that the majority of the officials she'll be dealing with will be participating in the talks via telepresence, she was still a bit surprised when only six people disembarked from the shuttle. Those six were "Adeona"'s captain, lieutenant commander Whiteford; Adeona _herself_ – now accompanied by a pair of floating drones – and a team of four marines that was their guard detail.

" _Welcome to "Elasa Dawn"._ " The Asari matriarch greeted while discreetly studying her guests and, especially, the marines. And she had to admit that they were quite impressive: all of them were easily over seven feet tall and completely encased in matte-black heavy mechanized armor, which appeared to be environmentally-sealed too. They carried what could only be described as heavy machine guns in their hands, but _that thing_ wasn't their only weapon: each marine also had a Krogan-sized heavy pistol, an equally-big knife and a good dozen of grenades marked with different colors. Furthermore, a discreet scan revealed that while none of them were biotics, they all were cybernetically enhanced and, probably, were damn good at fighting unarmed... Was there any wonder that their attempts to appear non-threatening weren't really working?

" _That you for having us over, lady T'Soni._ " Adeona, who, like her captain, was wearing the System Alliance's dress uniform for the occasion, replied politely. " _We hope for a productive discussion today._ "

" _As do we._ " Was Benezia's response. " _Please follow me to the conference hall so that we may begin._ " Mr. Whiteford nodded to the marines, and a pair of them saluted and stepped back to guard the shuttle, while the other two joined him and Adeona on the track towards the conference hall.

* * *

The short walk to the conference hall was spent in an uneasy silence as the wary Asari commandos were keeping a close eye on the human marines and, especially, the AI with _her_ drones. The lone Salarian was probably just as suspicious of them, but the humans had a lot more troubles reading his emotions, so it was hard for them to say what really was going through his horned head...

Once the group arrived to the conference hall – thankfully, without any incidents – Adeona ordered her drones to spread out a little and activate their holographic projectors. A moment later, a whole group of 'ghostly' humans and Mental Models joined those already in the room. And, thanks to having read the human codex, Benezia was actually able to recognize some of them.

" _I believe, introductions are in order._ " Adeona spoke then. " _I'm Systems Alliance's Star Fleet's reconnaissance vessel "Adeona", and this is my captain,_ _lieutenant commander James Whiteford._ " She said while gesturing towards the man. Next, the word was taken by a petite girl with very long blonde hair. She appeared to be barely a teen and was wearing a simple but pleasant ensemble consisting of a white shirt and long straight navy-blue skirt.

" _I'm the Admiralty Code._ " She introduced herself. " _I'm the chief technological adviser of the Systems Alliance._ " She paused for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to say something else, but ultimately decided against adding anything else to her introduction: these aliens really needn't know that she was also responsible for creation of the Union Cores for the Alliance's fleets... Meanwhile, one of her greatest 'daughters' took the word:

" _We are the supreme flagship of the Fleet of Fog, Yamato. Pleased to me you, envoy T'Soni._ " A brunette in a pink ballgown made a curtsy as she introducing herself and her 'twin', who instead wore some sort of a uniform. That 'second' Yamato then added: " _If you, for whatever reason, need to differentiate between the two us, you can call me Kotono._ " Benezia nodded, almost absentmindedly, to that while recalling what she had learned about these two from the human codex... And, well, while this codex was quite dodgy about what Yamato had been doing before then, it did introduce her as one of the major founders of the Systems Alliance nearly fifty years ago. Furthermore, she was the de facto guardian of the Alliance's homeworld, Earth (no coordinates provided).

Meanwhile, the next representative of the Systems Alliance began introducing herself. She was a tall young woman with long raven-black hair made into an tight bun on the back of her head and held together by a pair of silvery needles. She was wearing the Alliance's dress uniform, complete with a ceremonial sword on her left hip.

" _I'm great battleship Arcadia and I'm the supreme flagship of the Systems Alliance's Star Fleet._ " She said while standing at attention. Not feeling like telling anything else, she then passed the word to the next of their little group:

" _Greetings, madam T'Soni._ " An old and bald but surprisingly fit dark-skinned man in the Alliance uniform with quite a number of service ribbons on it greeted in a... not perfect galactic, though it was clear to Benezia that the human was doing his best to get the pronunciation right. " _I'm the head of the Systems Alliance's Defense Committee, fleet admiral Arnold McKinley._ " After a moment-long pause, he continued: " _And these are my fellow members of the committee, grand admirals Vasily Kuznetsov and Xiao Li._ " He introduced his colleagues, who then offered the Asari matriarch their greetings.

" _I'm the flagship of the Blue Steel sovereign fleet, Iona._ " A white-haired green-eyed girl who looked no older than the Admiralty Code introduced herself. " _I'm representing fleets relations adviser, admiral Chihaya Gunzou. Unfortunately, due to ...circumstances, he is unable to attend these talks in person._ " Three and a half years ago Gunzou had contacted the Nagasaki xeno-infection and while he managed to survive this cursed disease, it still did terrible damage to his body and left him in the nearly-constant need of medical attention.

Meanwhile, the word was taken by one of two humans not yet introduced. He was a relatively-young, tall brown-haired man wearing an immaculate black business suit with a red tie.

" _Greetings._ " He said a little bit unsurely: having the fate of the Alliance depend on his words and actions today left him quite nervous, and, despite his best attempts, he couldn't really hide that. " _I'm the elected representative of the Systems Alliance's colonies, Benjamin Goldstein._ " He paused for a moment, perhaps contemplating on whether he should add anything else to his introduction, but ultimately decided against it and passed the word to the final representative of the Alliance.

" _I'm the Secretary-General of United Nations of Earth, Chandrakant Manju._ " A stern-looking woman with brownish skin and graying hair said as she introduced herself. " _I hope today will mark the beginning of a mutually-beneficial relations between our people._ "

" _As do we._ " Benezia replied with a nod. " _I'm matriarch Benezia T'Soni, and I have be chosen to represent the Citadel Council during these talks._ " She said then, while glancing at the SPECTRE, silently asking him, whether he wished to remain anonymous for now or whether he would like to introduce himself to the human delegation. The Salarian decided to go with the latter:

" _Jaroth Palon, SPECial Tactics and REconnaissance._ " He said. " _My main objective is to observe these negotiations, but I may be providing some input as well._ "

" _Pleasure to make acquaintance._ " Chandrakant said. " _Now, shall we begin?_ "

" _Of course._ " Benezia agreed. " _First and foremost, the Citadel Council wishes to reaffirm that your people are indeed peaceful explorers, as stated in your codex._ "

" _Indeed._ " The Secretary-General replied. " _We do not seek hostilities with the galactic community and will respect existing borders in our expansion._ " After making a moment-long pause, she continued: " _However, we will also protect our space and our people._ "

" _Does that include your AIs?_ " The Salarian SPECTRE brought up an important point that needed to be negotiated. Barely a moment later, he received his answer. And it wasn't exactly the answer that the Citadel Council would like:

" _Yes._ " Fleet admiral McKinley replied firmly, no hesitation heard in his voice. The other humans appeared to share his sentiments and simply weren't fast enough to deliver the speech themselves. " _The Fleets have been our trusted allies for decades and we will stand by them. If our entrance into your community means their deaths, then the Systems Alliance will not become a part of the Citadel Space._ "

"Thank you, admiral." The Admiralty Code said, before turning her attention to the aliens. " _We are aware of what had happened in your past and... we can't say your mistrust towards synthetics is entirely unfounded._ " While the codex was heavily biased against the Geth, the leaders of the Systems Alliance were quite sure that was more to the story than a bunch mechs gaining sentience and suddenly wishing to spill their creators' blood. " _However, we too are living beings – even if we aren't alive in the same way that you are. And we_ will _fight to protect our right to live. And, like you've heard just now, we will not be alone in this fight._ "

" _That said._ " Chandrakant picked up. " _While the Systems Alliance will not become a part of the Citadel Space unless you welcome all of our citizens, organic and synthetic alike, we are still open to negotiating trade deals, defensive and law enforcement and scientific cooperation pacts with the Citadel Space as a whole or any of its member states independently._ "

" _I see..._ " Was all that Benezia could say in response. This wasn't exactly how the Council had expected the talks to proceed, and as such the T'Soni matriarch wasn't sure what she should do next. " _I'm afraid, I'm not a person who can strike such deals._ " After making another, much shorter this time, pause, she continued: " _In the meantime, I'm willing to try and answer the questions you might have about the galactic community I'm representing today_."

" _Of course, we reserve the right not to answer the questions that would require us to disclose the information the Council wishes to remain a secret._ " The SPECTRE agent added. That was perfectly understandable, and the representatives of the Systems Alliance had no problems with agreeing to that.

" _We would also like it if you can answer some of our questions about your people and your government as well._ " Benezia added then.

" _Of course._ " The Secretary-General replied. " _But we, likewise, reserve the right not to disclose sensitive information._ " After getting the confirmation from the aliens, she continued: " _Anyhow, here's our first question:.._ " And so the little game of trading answers to each others questions began...

 **~/ *** \~**

Urdnot Wrex was sitting in a seedy bar in the bowels of Omega. Normally he avoided such wretched places whenever he could, but today he had no choice: his contractor wanted him to remove a gang leader that was causing trouble in the slums lately, and the varren shit liked to frequent this cesspool for whatever reason. Laying a trap for him there looked like the fastest way to get the objective done to the old Krogan.

And while he waited for his target to finally show up, Wrex entertained himself by listening to the a random vid channel playing in the background as he seeped the strongest alcohol the barman could find for him. Unfortunately, right now it was the time for the news block and... Well, the reporters were once again talking about that new race, the humans or whatever those squishy Asari-lookalikes called themselves. No, Wrex could understand that the discovery of a new space-faring race was an event of great importance, but, seriously, repeating the same few bits of information every damn hour for two weeks – that was a bit too much...

Perhaps, the Krogan mercenary thought, he should ask the bartender to pick a different channel? He had absolutely no desire to listen for hundredth or so time about these humans and their apparent use of sentient AIs. It was simply mind-numbing boring at this point... Then the newscaster announced that the first round of negotiations between the Citadel Council and the Systems Alliance had taken place earlier today. Now, that was a bit more interesting, Wrex decided. Perhaps, listening to the news would be a bit more tolerable today...

And as he listened to the newscaster giving the summary of what had happened during those talks, Wrex decided that he actually liked these humans: if nothing else, they had quads to tell the Council to stick their wants up their collective asses. Plus, he could admire the loyalty the human and their AIs had towards each other – that was pretty much a species-wide example of krantt... Perhaps, he could visit one of their worlds to see what their society was like for himself after he was done with his current job? Speaking of which, Wrex spotted the bastard he had been paid to kill entering the bar. So, gulping down the beverage he had ordered in a one massive sip, the old Krogan drew his _Graal Spike Thrower_ shotgun and fired a bunch of deadly blades at the unsuspecting little shit. All the while grinning at the prospect of a good fight against the 'bodyguards' and sucker-ups of the now-dead gangster...

* * *

The Geth Collective was abuzz with the news that the Systems Alliance refused to sacrifice their synthetic allies to appease the Citadel Council. Now with an even greater number of runtimes voting for this, it was decided that Collective should try establishing a peaceful contact with the Systems Alliance.

Of course, the Geth were still building their future on their own, but it was agreed that having an ally out there would be beneficial to the Collective.

* * *

 **That's all, folks!**


End file.
